Finally, a cool electric car!

Posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008, at 8:11 AM

Well, everyone it's time to give Chrysler a big pat on the back. It appears that while they will be the last company to enter the electric car market, they will also be the first company to make an electric someone would be willing to drive.

Yesterday they announced that beginning in 2010, at least one of these three vehicles will be available to the public.

Are you ready for this? A minivan that looks like a minivan. A Jeep Wrangler that looks like a Jeep. A new sportscar that has not yet been named but looks a lot like the Dodge Viper.

As far as the specs on the cars, not a whole lot has been released other than that they will be able to travel 150-200 miles per charge which, while not far, is still passing the competition. Apparently the vehicles take between 6-8 hours to charge on a 110v outlet but a 220v outlet will cut that in half according to the article.

I don't really have a lot to say about this I just thought it was a neat story and should be shared.

I love the look of the new all-electric car... but I'm kinda worried that it runs out of juice after 150-200 miles! What if you have to take a trip? You'd have to stop every 200 miles and plug your car in for 6-8 hours! I guess that car's only for day-to-day driving, to work and such. The others have the backup gas-burning engine for when your batteries die. Pretty cool! Nice blog!

-- Posted by Youngest Child on Wed, Sep 24, 2008, at 8:44 AM

I never did like the Jeep Grand Cherokees when they came out in 02. Whose idea was it to destroy the Jeep Look, anyway? Some of the newer ones LOOK like Jeeps, but they've sure priced them out of my range.

We need a photo, Corey! Gives the blog "bling"! (I like that word!) Bling! I think I'll use it on every blog. (Be back later!)

-- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Sep 24, 2008, at 5:04 PM

Well, "bling" doesn't describe very many of the blogs...so I used it only once... Pretty serious stuff out there!

-- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Sep 24, 2008, at 9:18 PM

OK Corey, how much is it going to cost me to plug this thing in every night?

Still going to have to burn coal to make the electricity. Aren't we just swapping one carbon fuel for another.

Can our electrical grid handle millions of people plugging their car in every night?

What do you think?

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Wed, Sep 24, 2008, at 10:11 PM

Corey Noles' response:

Those are some fantastic questions truth to which I have no fantastic answers. While swapping one carbon for another is true, I still think we're talking about considerably less than an internal combustion engine creates. But, I don't know that for sure. It only seems logical because the coal to make power is burning anyways regardless of whether the car is charging or not.

The capacity of our nations power grid is also an interesting thought that I'd never considered. A friend and I were discussing this last night and wondered about what happens when you leave town? Would you have a to find a hotel with 220v jacks in the parking lot? Who knows and it may never go far enough that we will know. I will say that the range of these new Chrysler cars is far more impressive than what we've seen in the past. They still seem to be best suited for traveling close to home however.

On a side note, I've had a couple people ask me about a picture. If you click on the link at the top of this blog that goes to the story, you will see a video player on the right hand side of the screen. Check it out.

Interesting point, I.B. That would be another case of "unintended consequences." I was reading a Time article in the doctor's office yesterday, and I was horrified to see the consequences of the biofuels - especially ethanol. Turns out that what we thought was a good idea is having disasterous effects on environment.

-- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Sep 25, 2008, at 7:34 AM

Bio Fuels are even causing food shortages in other countries. Not a good deal for the world population is it.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Thu, Sep 25, 2008, at 8:32 AM

The link doesn't work out here in the boonies, Corey, but it doesn't matter.......I can probably never afford another vehicle anyway...

-- Posted by goat lady on Fri, Sep 26, 2008, at 8:42 AM

The first electric production car was made around 1906. That's over ONE HUNDRED years ago! (There were others prior to that). These companies have had this technology for years! They also had cars running off tap water at least 25 years ago. Look it up!!

The "Big 3" and Honda, Toyota have had there hands in the "cookie jar" of Saudi Arabia, etc. far, far too long. Unfortunately, informed people like me can't seem to do anything about it.

Corey Noles, staff writer for The Daily Statesman and Editor of The North Stoddard Countian, is the author of a regular baseball/St. Louis Cardinals column and also uses his blog to sound off on various happenings in sports. He also operates a weekly baseball mailbag column.